Andy Blow of Precision Hydration joins us for a deep dive into hydration, sweating, cramping and more. Check out Episode 221 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast now on Youtube and your favorite podcast apps!

I’m a heavy and salty sweater. I’m also prone to cramping. I’ve been known to have cramps in all manner of places. The worst being in a 24 hour MTB race when I got cramps in my hands, abs, even facial muscles!

These days I don’t suffer so much though, am just better trained and less likely to overreach so far. I do also use Precision Hydration 1500 to help reduce the chances of hyponatremia. So far I’ve not used more than three ‘doses’ per day. Presumably too much would be bad though, so… how much is too much? Should we be worried about having too much? What would happen?

Presumably too much would be bad though, so… how much is too much? Should we be worried about having too much?

This is my question as well. Pre-loading sodium before the event (I have gone as far as 1 the night before and then another the am of the race) has helped significantly, but I still end up being short of sodium. (I get a very specific headache when the sodium or electrolytes are lacking). How heavy on intake during an event can a heavy sweater go? (Looking at events of 2.5 to 3 hours).

This topic is very aptly timed as I was just thinking about sweat and hydration yesterday. I am at times a salty sweater - on really hot days and some intense indoor rides I will develop the salt stains on jersey, gloves and helmet straps. But on some rides I still sweat but don’t leave the stains.
I was wondering if our sodium/electrolyte vs. body water levels coming into a workout influence how much salt we expel through sweat during the workout. So if we have a higher intake of sodium in our daily diet does that then make us more prone to being a salty sweater or is it purely genetic?

HI All, Five Stars all the way,
This question is for Andy, Is there a way that a regular cyclists can do a sweat test via litmus paper or similar to work out how much he/she should drink per hour, or post ride?
Thanks in advance
Rob

Here’s another one: I recently did ten days straight averaging just over 100 miles per day. Luckily for me the weather wasn’t too hot, so I don’t think that I accumulated a big sodium deficit. In general though, on a multiday event, do we easily completely refill our sodium stores and plasma concentration with normal food, or should we actively replenish?

Is there a benefit to separating calories, salt intake, and hydration?

For example, if I consume 200 calories mixed in to a bottle of water, is it the same as consuming 200 calories via gels and then drinking water only? Do I lose some of the water to help digesting the calories in the mixed bottle? Same question could be asked with salt/electrolytes.

We had some technical snafus yesterday, like y’all mentioned. I just finished editing the podcast and it is uploading to podcast channels as we speak, and should be on YouTube before noon Pacific.

Andy was an incredible guest and the podcast was hugely informative on what I consider to be a very misunderstood topic. We also took sweat tests ourselves and shared the results, so stay tuned for those.

We also have another special episode we are recording this week with Kelly Starrett from The Ready State (previously Mobility WOD), but livestreaming it will be tough since we will be at Strava HQ and using their AV setup. This episode will also be on YouTube and all podcast channels, but not likely until the following week.

As someone who has hyperhidrosis, I’m always sweating, even when at my desk at work doing nothing physical. Warm weather, cold weather, always. I’ve talked with my doctor and there isn’t an underlying condition; I’ve been like this since puberty (pushing 40 now) and am otherwise completely healthy.

Do I have concerns about hydration in a sports setting any different than someone else? I’m a heavy and salty sweater when exercising, but I try to hydrate according to that. I wouldn’t expect to be different from other heavy/salty sweaters, but since there’s an expert in human sweat I figured it’s good to ask.

Here is a really cheap product recommendation for @Nate and/or anyone else who struggles with keeping electrolyte tabs dry during training. I had this problem and figured there had to be a cheap and simple solution. There is: AMAZON LINK HERE